Conference Report on S. Con. Res. 70, Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2009

CONFERENCE REPORT ON S. CON. RES. 70, CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2009 -- (House of Representatives - June 05, 2008)

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, when we talk about the budget, it's helpful to know where we are and how we got here. This chart shows the budget deficit over the years and shows that when President Clinton came in, we reversed the trend of deficit and actually went into surplus and were going to stay into surplus until the Republican leadership had a President who would actually sign their bills. We immediately went in the ditch and have bounced around in the ditch ever since then.

We had, when this administration came in, a projected surplus of $5.5 trillion, more than enough to pay Social Security for 75 years without reducing benefits. Unfortunately, those 8 years will come in at about a $3 trillion deficit, a reversal of over $8.5 trillion deterioration.

And although they overspent the budget that much, they didn't create any jobs. This is the job growth since the Great Depression. These last 8 years have produced the worst job growth since the Great Depression.

And so we have a budget that will reverse this. We have a budget that is fiscally responsible, it balances in 2012, remains in balance using realistic CBO estimates. It posts smaller deficits over the 5 years than the Republican alternative. It continues emphasis on fiscal responsibility by maintaining pay-as-you-go that served us so well during the 1990s.

It also addresses our priorities, increases veterans' funding, energy funding, particularly renewable energy and energy efficiency, and assistance to low-income families. It invests in education and social services. It rejects the administration's cuts in environmental protection. It funds first responders, community development, and other high-priority services. It fully funds the defense budget.

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. It also maintains accommodations for children's health care, higher education, and rejects the cuts in Medicare and Medicaid. It does this, maintaining the middle class tax cuts. So instead of following the reckless fiscal policies of the past, instead of following the reckless recommendations of this administration, this responsible budget funds our priorities in a fiscally responsible way.

I want to thank the gentleman from South Carolina for his leadership in presenting this fiscally responsible budget. I urge my colleagues to adopt this conference report.

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